7 Beloved Biblical Characters That Are Actually Terrible Role Models

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The Bible is an ancient document. It is believed that the Israelites first began to write down what would become the Torah and Tanakh of the Jews and the Old Testament of Christians in the 10th century B.C. The oral tradition was likely much older and is believed to have been recorded almost as soon as the Hebrew written language appeared. The New Testament, in comparison, is very young as it was written a mere 2,000 years ago.

Despite, or perhaps because of its long history, the Bible has aged better than almost any other ancient document on Earth. Its laws and ethics formed the basis for nearly every legal system in the West, and the Jews survived as a distinct people despite the lack of a proper homeland and centuries of open persecution. Modern Jews and Christians live by the moral codes outlined in the Old and New Testaments, respectively, and even those of other religions often recognize that Christ and the prophets were great moral teachers. That said, the Bible does occasionally show its age when examined by modern readers. There are passages and verses that seem baffling or cruel to people today regardless of how revolutionary those laws or ideas may have been millennia ago. The cultural disconnect between the tribal and war torn world of the 10th century and more prosperous modern era can also be seen in the stories of some of the Bible’s greatest heroes. Many of these figures are still beloved today, but their lives are not the best examples of how to live in the modern world. They were products of their time and may have even been ahead of their time, but as the world has changed, emulating them might get you into trouble. Here are seven beloved biblical characters that are actually terrible role models for the modern age.

David

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David is one of the most beloved characters in the entire Bible. He was strong, holy and a good king for Israel with one enormous exception. David’s actions with regards to Bathsheba are a massive black spot on his record. He abused his power as king in order to force Bathsheba to sleep with him and then had her husband murdered in order to cover up David’s crime.

With the exception of a handful of lunatics, most people are not going to murder their friend in order to be able to sleep with their friend’s spouse. That said, some people would see David’s determination to get the girl as a good relationship model to follow. It is played out all the time in movies, books and TV shows. Person A is pining after Person B. Person B is not interested. Person A continues pursuing Person B until they give in. In fiction, this relationship usually culminates in either the reluctant party realizing that they were meant for their pursuer or another form of happily ever after. In real life, this is a horrific start to an unhealthy relationship. This sort of relationship is built on one person ignoring the other’s wishes and simply wearing them down until they get what they want. You do not want to be that person. At best, it is unhealthy and obsessive. At worst, it is harassment.

Samson

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Samson was one of the strongest men in the Bible in the most literal sense. He was a man of unparalleled physical ability, and he used it in defense of his home. That said, Samson was not the brightest bulb in the human chandelier, at least not to modern eyes. When Delilah is sent to trick the secret of Samson’s strength out of the Israelite, Samson repeatedly tells her falsehoods. His refusal to tell her his secret is smart. What is not smart is that he never seems to realize something is up when the Philistines repeatedly attack him using whatever fake method he fed to Delilah. You would think he would have caught on to the fact that Delilah was spying on him. You also would think that he would continue to simply feed her falsehoods instead of telling her the truth. Instead, Samson does exactly that. Mirroring Samson’s arrogance or foolishness is not a good idea in modern life. When someone is cruel or betrays you repeatedly, it is probably best to cut them out of your life.

Joseph

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Tales of revenge make for great movies and novels. The tale of the burned spy, betrayed special forces agent or other wronged hyper-competent hero seeking revenge against those who ruined their life forms the backbone of a dozen wildly successful thrillers. In real life, however, revenge does nothing but create a mess and hurt everyone even peripherally involved. As such, Joseph may not be the best role model for the modern age. He was smart enough to help Egypt survive the seven years of famine, such forethought is worth emulating, but he then proceeded to seek revenge on his brothers. While this, on a purely emotional level, makes sense, they did sell him into slavery, Joseph takes most of his fury out on Benjamin. There is serious debate over whether Benjamin was even born when Joseph was sold into slavery. If he was alive, he would likely have been too young to really understand what was happening to his older brother. Seeking vengeance today is a bad idea anyway, and taking your fury out on an innocent is never acceptable.

Sarah

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Sarah was the mother of the Jewish people, and through her, the mother of Christianity. Motherhood, however, does not turn people into flawless saints, not even motherhood of an entire people. Sarah made several mistakes to modern eyes. Some of them were products of the time in which she lived, but that does not mean that they should be emulated. Sarah willingly gave Hagar to Abraham because Sarah could not conceive a son on her own. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, and Sarah later conceived Isaac through God’s miracle. Sarah then turned on Hagar and Ishmael.

In Sarah’s time, Ishmael was a threat to Isaac’s position in Abraham’s household. Sending Hagar and Ishmael away made sense. Today, it reeks of blaming others for the inability to see the consequences of your own actions. If you take an action that leads to poor consequences, you need to take responsibility for it and own up to the results of your decision. You cannot simply scapegoat someone else or external forces and claim that you were blameless.

Aaron

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Most people think of peer pressure as a modern problem. The phrase conjures up images of shifty teenagers trying to coerce a friend into underage drinking or sleeping with their crush. It does not exactly bring to mind mistakes of quite literally biblical proportions. The worst example of peer pressure, however, is found within the pages of the Bible. While Moses is on Mount Sinai, the Israelites become impatient and demand that Aaron make them an idol to worship. Aaron knows that making an idol literally under God’s nose is a terrible plan. Following the pressure of the determined people around him, however, Aaron gives into their demands. Instead of acting like the prophet he was and talking sense into the Israelites, Aaron fashions one of the greatest screw-ups in the entire Bible with his bare hands, the golden calf. Giving into peer pressure is never an action to emulate, but it is even worse when you know you are going to be ticking off none other than God Himself.

Peter

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Peter is one of the most honored souls in Christianity. As such, it seems odd that he would be considered a poor role model. Peter, however, is one of the many people in the Bible who had to screw up in order to get it right later. As is famously described in the Bible, Peter was not at his best when Jesus was arrested. First, Peter attacked the slave of one of the guards and cut off his ear. The slave likely wanted to be there even less than Peter, but the slave was a convenient place for Peter to let out his frustration. Attacking innocents would be strike one against Peter. Strike two comes later in the same famous story when Peter panics and denies that he knows Jesus when asked. Peter later becomes one of the leaders of early Christianity, but first he gave into fear, cowardice and abandoned everything he believed in.

Jacob

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The word “trickster” tends to bring to mind some of the most cunning and mischievous characters of history. Loki, Anansi, Hermes, Prometheus, Coyote, Raven and Puck are all famous, or perhaps infamous, tricksters. Such clever troublemakers are a staple of any sort of folktale, myth or legend. You would not, however, think of them as appearing in the Bible. One of the most important characters in the Old Testament, however, would be good friends with any of the classic mythological tricksters. Jacob, who is later called Israel, tricks his father into giving him his older brother’s inheritance, swindles his father-in-law out of most of his livestock and repeatedly uses his wiles to get himself into and out of trouble.

Everyone loves a trickster tale, but tricksters are not great role models for real life. Using deceit to get what you want is no way to live and will only hurt those around you. Like Peter, Jacob later becomes a responsible human being, but he spends quite a while first causing mischief worthy of any trickster.

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The Bible has aged better than almost any other ancient document. It still forms the backbone of Western civilization and formed the basis of arguably the most just legal system in the world. That said, there are still verses and stories where the Bible shows its age. It was written during periods of turmoil, war, persecution and oppression. As such, its characters often reflect the cultures in which they were raised and may not always be the best role models for people living in the modern world. That said, the Bible was written not just for saints but for sinners, and the faithful can rest easy knowing that even when their best intentions lead them into trouble, God loves them anyway, screw-ups and all.